“Tshechu” is the annual event of the year in every
district and though it is billed as a religious festival it is very much more
than that.
I, myself have
advised people travelling to Bhutan to make sure that a tshechu is included in their itinerary so I shouldn’t have been
surprised to see so many tourists in guided groups at the recent
Wangduephodrang District Tshechu.
In fact we had made
a hotel booking a month in advance expecting an influx of tourists and not wanting
to spend 2 hours each day travelling back and forth between Samtengang and
Bajo. We had been anticipating this grand event for some time and so it was
something of a disappointment to have the day finally arrive and know that Ian
would miss out since he was still in Thimphu receiving physiotherapy treatment
twice daily.
Somehow by the time
I got there on Wednesday morning after a 5am start in the village and dressed
in the best of my traditional clothes, which I was later to discover was on inside
out, I was focused on the local audience and hoping to see many of my own students
with their families and I had completely forgotten the tourist draw card that a
tshechu this close to the capital
would obviously be. Wangdue is only 3 to 4 hours from the capital, if you play
the road conditions right.
I was more than a
little curious to see how it would be staged in the army barracks. Given that I
have only ever attended 2 before and both were inside the magnificent Trashigang
Dzong, I was skeptical about the location and setting but intrigued about how
an outdoor performance would compare to the shade and intimacy of the inner
courtyard and sacred, ancient space of a dzong.
As I suspected the
lack of shade was an issue, despite the covered areas that had been set up
especially for the local audience and I felt very fortunate to be invited into
the part of the “grandstand” set aside for tourists because it contained seats
and was shaded for most of the mornings at least.
In the afternoon I
returned to the covered zone, siting on the ground with the locals where I
belong. It was there, via gestures that a kind, local woman alerted me to the
fact that my kira needed to be
reversed! She even intimated that her daughter would go with me to help. When I
returned properly attired without the daughter’s assistance, she was as pleased
as punch and invited me to sit with her family group.
Shops and stalls
selling everything from fresh vegetables to plastic toys or cheap, imported,
synthetic clothes and exquisite hand-woven traditional clothing and handicrafts
were interspersed among a proliferation of small snack shops, makeshift bars
and restaurants. Old-fashioned sideshow stalls were by far the most popular
with the young people and there were the usual prizes of enormous stuffed toys
and plastic junk in abundance.
I loved that the
tradition sport of darts, known as khuru
had been adapted into a test your skills funfair game with monks being the most
interested and successful of the competitors. An absolute cacophony was created
by spruikers shouting into megaphones to attract customers to play quoits tossed
over prizes, or bingo or wheel of fortune or to knock down stainless steel
beakers with tennis balls. Set up in tents and plying their trade at the
perimeter of the actual performance area in their own enclosed zone, these businesses
thrive on everyone having a little extra to spend and the novelty of being
available only once a year.
Tshechu is the
time to don your finery. Exquisite kira
and gho, elaborate hairstyles,
carefully applied makeup, brand name accessories and flashy jewelry and
sunglasses are all de rigueur for the young singles strutting their stuff and
feigning interest in only the religious lessons of the performance. People-
watching is a major part of the spectacle. This is certainly the time for young
people to meet potential partners and they are afforded more freedom than
usual. Many a romance has begun at a tshechu,
if class XI short stories are to be believed. Promiscuity is rampant and huge
posters promoting contraception and educating about sexually transmitted
diseases are prominently displayed on the tarpaulins separating the funfair
from the amphitheater. Condoms were actually available from a help yourself for
free box at the last tshechu we
attended in Trashigang
Without doubt
business opportunities, romance, fashion shows and sideshows aside, it is the
masked dances, religious morality plays, comic relief of the apsaras and
storytelling that are the main events. This is what draws the huge crowds and
certainly what keeps them captivated throughout the 3 days of performance. I
guess I too am more taken with that traditional aspects of tshechu as of the hundreds of photos I took, none depict anything
except the performance, the ‘stage’ or the audience.
At certain points
blessings are bestowed and just being in attendance and making a donation earn
merit.
I decided to stay
for only the first 2 days as I wanted to spend part of my 5-day break in
Thimphu with Ian, but nonetheless I enjoyed every minute and never tired of the
spectacle. It was an exhausting but event-filled couple of days and I was
delighted to see so many people young and old, immersed in their culture,
dressed to the nines and obviously enjoying themselves immensely.
I am looking forward to being able to attend Trongsa Tshechu in one of the most impressively located dzongs in the country, with Ian and a visiting friend at the end of December. I never seem to tire of watching and I understand more and more each time despite my complete lack of language skills.
Just for the record to do prefer the dzong as a venue and I am sure I am not alone.
